Certain types of electrical connectors are constructed to be attachable to shielded cables. While such shielded cables can take a large number of forms, they include at least one, and usually several, electrically conductive insulated wires within a tubular sheath of insulating material which is then surrounded by a layer of electrically conductive material, often in the form of woven bare wires or wires formed in a mesh or spiral configuration. The shielding completely surrounds the insulated wires and usually is surrounded by another layer of insulating material. Additional layers of materials of various kinds can be added for special purposes, but such special purposes are of no consequence to the present invention.
In any connector which is designed to cooperate with such shielded cable, it is important to have some means for connecting the shielding to electrical ground. Normally, one of the contact members of the connector is designated as being the ground contact, whether or not this is also the common contact for the electrical circuit, and it is important to connect the shield to this ground contact member so that the shielding can perform its intended function.
Various devices have been constructed for this purpose. Normally, they are an integral part of the connector itself and are removable or disconnectable, once installed, only with great difficulty if at all. It is, however, desirable to be able to connect the cable shield either to another conductor or to the connector contact in such a way that the connection is adaptable to various sizes of cables and is also able to maintain contact with the shield when the apparatus is used under circumstances in which the cable can move relative to the connector. It is also desirable to be able to easily disconnect the grounding connection from the shield for purposes of checking the circuits with the shield ground removed. This has been either inconvenient or not possible in structures of the prior art.